Rick's tip:Raiders to win in a close game 19-12. Ferguson to grab first try for us with McCrone kicking the drop goal! With their backs up against the wall it is now or never for us and I think there will be a renewed Green Machine up north this Saturday.

I think we may need to rest Orford is not for any other reason but the huge amount of pressure that will be on him to perform. Best to give him a rest in such circumstances. Maybe a stint at Souths Logan might be just what he needs to find his old form again. Who knows but it has got to be worth a shot now.

And laying all the blame on Orford is wrong too. He hasn't been playing well but there are another 16 other players out there that need to play better too. It is a team game and if those other 16 were playing perfectly then it really wouldnt matter what Orford did.

After such a great first game it has been such a disappointment to watch the team fall so far from last year. What happened over christmass that is makeing the players play so badly? All accross the park there was bad players from the Raiders even Dugan didnt go well but he is injured so he has an excuse unlike most. pissess me off something shocking I tell you!

The North Queensland Toyota Cowboys’ NYC squad will come up against another team on a four-game winning streak when they face the Canberra Raiders at Dairy Farmers Stadium on Saturday night.

The Cowboys and Raiders are two of four teams sharing the best record in the competition – four wins and one loss – although it’s Canberra who sit on top of the table thanks to a better for and against record.

The number will grow to five tonight when two teams with three wins, Brisbane and Newcastle, play at Suncorp Stadium.

Like the Cowboys, the Raiders lost their opening round match but have gone on a scoring spree since then, tallying 38, 40, 58 and 44 points in victories against Brisbane, Wests Tigers, Gold Coast and Penrith.

They have a +106 points differential, compared to +36 for the fourth-placed North Queenslanders, who have injury concerns over key second-rower Jason Taumalolo (small fracture in his arm) and damaging centre Moses Pangai (shoulder).

“I’ve had a look at the Raiders and they’re a pretty strong side,” Cowboys coach Kristian Woolf said.

“I see Canberra and the Warriors as the two strongest teams in the comp so we’re expecting a really good test.

“They’re very good across the park and they’re very big in the middle, especially the two front-rowers – Shannon Boyd and Paul Vaughan – are very big and very mobile.

“They’ve also got a very good halfback, who directs them around very well, in Sam Williams.”

Williams played for the Raiders’ NRL side in round one when they convincingly beat Cronulla, before being dropped back to the under-20s for off-season signing Matt Orford.

“I think all the boys know they’re going to have to be on their game this weekend to compete or get a win,” Woolf said.

“Hopefully it will get the best out of them.”

The Round 6 Cowboys NYC team to play the Raiders will be announced on Tuesday.

Second-rower Gavin Cooper will miss the North Queensland Toyota Cowboys’ NRL round six clash with Canberra on Saturday night after lodging an early guilty plea to a grade one dangerous throw charge.

One of the Cowboys’ best and a tryscorer in the 22-12 round five win against the Gold Coast at Dairy Farmers Stadium on Friday night, Cooper was charged by the match review panel on Monday over a 14th minute incident involving Titans prop Ryan James.

After taking the early plea, he will be hit with a 112-point penalty which adds to the 52 carryover points on his record for an offence earlier in the 2011 season.

A one-match ban is enforced if a player has 100 demerit points on his record.

If Cooper had the fought the charge at the judiciary, and lost, the penalty would have increased to 150 points, leading to a two-game suspension.

Lock Daniel Beasley is set to make his first run-on start for the North Queensland Toyota Cowboys’ NYC team when they play Canberra at Dairy Farmers Stadium on Saturday.

With second-rower Jason Taumalolo sidelined with a fractured arm, Beasley will be in the starting pack, with skipper Chris McLean moving up from lock to the second-row.

A former Queensland under-18 representative and product of Brothers in Cairns, Beasley made his NYC debut when he came off the interchange bench in last Friday night’s 36-12 win against the Gold Coast.

Anthony Gadd returns to the Cowboys’ squad as an interchange forward.

Both the Cowboys and Raiders have 4-1 win-loss records, with Canberra on top of the table due to their superior for and against record.